Isaiah 28

• 1. Destruction is certain for the city of Samaria--the pride and joy of the drunkards of Israel! It sits in a rich valley, but its glorious beauty will suddenly disappear. Destruction is certain for that city--the pride of a people brought low by wine.
• 2. For the Lord will send the mighty Assyrian army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it and dash it to the ground.
• 3. The proud city of Samaria--the pride and joy of the drunkards of Israel--will be trampled beneath its enemies' feet.
• 4. It sits in a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will suddenly disappear. It will be greedily snatched up, as an early fig is hungrily picked and eaten.
• 5. Then at last the LORD Almighty will himself be Israel's crowning glory. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.
• 6. He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates.
• 7. Now, however, Israel is being led by drunks! The priests and prophets reel and stagger from beer and wine. They make stupid mistakes as they carry out their responsibilities.
• 8. Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere.
• 9. They say, "Who does the LORD think we are? Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, barely old enough to talk?
• 10. He tells us everything over and over again, a line at a time, in very simple words! "
• 11. Since they refuse to listen, God will speak to them through foreign oppressors who speak an unknown language!
• 12. God's people could have rest in their own land if they would only obey him, but they will not listen.
• 13. So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, repeating it over and over, a line at a time, in very simple words. Yet they will stumble over this simple, straightforward message. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.
• 14. Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
• 15. You boast that you have struck a bargain to avoid death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. You say, "The Assyrians can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception."
• 16. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem. It is firm, a tested and precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never run away again.
• 17. "I will take the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness to check the foundation wall you have built. Your refuge looks strong, but since it is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, the enemy will come like a flood to sweep it away.
• 18. I will cancel the bargain you made to avoid death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy floods in, you will be trampled into the ground.
• 19. Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away." This message will bring terror to your people.
• 20. For you have no place of refuge--the bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you.
• 21. The LORD will come suddenly and in anger, as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange, unusual thing: He will destroy his own people!
• 22. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has plainly told me that he is determined to crush you.
• 23. Listen to me; listen as I plead!
• 24. Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting it?
• 25. Does he not finally plant his seeds for dill, cumin, wheat, barley, and spelt, each in its own section of his land?
• 26. The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.
• 27. He doesn't thresh all his crops the same way. A heavy sledge is never used on dill; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten softly with a flail.
• 28. Bread grain is easily crushed, so he doesn't keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn't pulverize it.
• 29. The LORD Almighty is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.

Isaiah 29

• 1. "Destruction is certain for Ariel, the City of David. Year after year you offer your many sacrifices.
• 2. Yet I will bring disaster upon you, and there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will become as her name Ariel means--an altar covered with blood.
• 3. I will be your enemy, surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls. I will build siege towers around it and will destroy it.
• 4. Your voice will whisper like a ghost from the earth where you will lie buried.
• 5. "But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be driven away like chaff before the wind.
• 6. In an instant, I, the LORD Almighty, will come against them with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.
• 7. All the nations fighting against Jerusalem will vanish like a dream! Those who are attacking her walls will vanish like a vision in the night.
• 8. A hungry person dreams of eating but is still hungry. A thirsty person dreams of drinking but is still faint from thirst when morning comes. In the same way, your enemies will dream of a victorious conquest over Jerusalem, but all to no avail."
• 9. Are you amazed and incredulous? Do you not believe it? Then go ahead and be blind if you must. You are stupid, but not from wine! You stagger, but not from beer!
• 10. For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.
• 11. All these future events are a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, "We can't read it because it is sealed."
• 12. When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, "Sorry, we don't know how to read."
• 13. And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote.
• 14. Because of this, I will do wonders among these hypocrites. I will show that human wisdom is foolish and even the most brilliant people lack understanding."
• 15. Destruction is certain for those who try to hide their plans from the LORD, who try to keep him in the dark concerning what they do! "The LORD can't see us," you say to yourselves. "He doesn't know what is going on!"
• 16. How stupid can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you. You are only the jars he makes! Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, "He didn't make us"? Does a jar ever say, "The potter who made me is stupid"?
• 17. Soon--and it will not be very long--the wilderness of Lebanon will be a fertile field once again. And the fertile fields will become a lush and fertile forest.
• 18. In that day deaf people will hear words read from a book, and blind people will see through the gloom and darkness.
• 19. The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the LORD. Those who are poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
• 20. Those who intimidate and harass will be gone, and all those who plot evil will be killed.
• 21. Those who make the innocent guilty by their false testimony will disappear. And those who use trickery to pervert justice and tell lies to tear down the innocent will be no more.
• 22. That is why the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel, "My people will no longer pale with fear or be ashamed.
• 23. For when they see their many children and material blessings, they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel. They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
• 24. Those in error will then believe the truth, and those who constantly complain will accept instruction.

Isaiah 30

• 1. "Destruction is certain for my rebellious children," says the LORD. "You make plans that are contrary to my will. You weave a web of plans that are not from my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.
• 2. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt to find help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh for his protection.
• 3. But in trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated and disgraced.
• 4. For though his power extends to Zoan and Hanes,
• 5. it will all turn out to your shame. He will not help you even one little bit."
• 6. Look at the animals moving slowly across the terrible desert to Egypt--donkeys and camels loaded with treasure to pay for Egypt's aid. On through the wilderness they go, where lions and poisonous snakes live. All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return.
• 7. Egypt's promises are worthless! I call her the Harmless Dragon.
• 8. Now go and write down these words concerning Egypt. They will then stand until the end of time as a witness to Israel's unbelief.
• 9. For these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay any attention to the LORD's instructions.
• 10. They tell the prophets, "Shut up! We don't want any more of your reports." They say, "Don't tell us the truth. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies.
• 11. Forget all this gloom. We have heard more than enough about your `Holy One of Israel.' We are tired of listening to what he has to say."
• 12. This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: "Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies,
• 13. calamity will come upon you suddenly. It will be like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down.
• 14. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery--shattered so completely that there won't be a piece left that is big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well."
• 15. The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says, "Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
• 16. You said, `No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.' But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
• 17. One of them will chase a thousand of you. Five of them will make all of you flee. You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a distant mountaintop."
• 18. But the LORD still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them.
• 19. O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will respond instantly to the sound of your cries.
• 20. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and affliction for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes,
• 21. and you will hear a voice say, "This is the way; turn around and walk here."
• 22. Then you will destroy all your silver idols and gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags. "Ugh!" you will say to them. "Begone!"
• 23. Then the LORD will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your cattle.
• 24. The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff having been blown away by the wind.
• 25. In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill.
• 26. The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter--like the light of seven days! So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.
• 27. Look! The LORD is coming from far away, burning with anger, surrounded by a thick, rising smoke. His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like fire.
• 28. His anger pours out like a flood on his enemies, sweeping them all away. He will sift out the proud nations. He will bridle them and lead them off to their destruction.
• 29. But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals. You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem--the mountain of the LORD--to the Rock of Israel.
• 30. And the LORD will make his majestic voice heard. With angry indignation he will bring down his mighty arm on his enemies. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones, bringing their destruction.
• 31. At the LORD's command, the Assyrians will be shattered. He will strike them down with his rod.
• 32. And as the LORD strikes them, his people will keep time with the music of tambourines and harps.
• 33. Topheth--the place of burning--has long been ready for the Assyrian king; it has been piled high with wood. The breath of the LORD, like fire from a volcano, will set it ablaze.

New Living Translation: 246 of 324 days.